Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Computing systems such as personal computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, cellular phones, among many other types of computing systems, are increasingly prevalent in numerous aspects of modern life. As computers become progressively more integrated with users' everyday life, the convenience, efficiency, and intuitiveness of the user-interfaces by which users interact with computing devices becomes progressively more important.
A user-interface may include various combinations of hardware and software which enable the user to, among other things, interact with a computing system. One example of a modern user-interface is a “pointing device” that may allow a user to input spatial data into a computing system. The spatial data may be received and processed by the computing system, and may ultimately be used by the computing system as a basis for executing certain computing functions.
One type of pointing device may, generally, be based on a user moving an object. Examples of common such pointing devices include a computer mouse, a trackball, a joystick, a pointing stick, and a roller mouse. Other examples of pointing devices based on a user moving an object may exist as well. In typical arrangements, the object includes sensors that are arranged to transmit, to the computing system, data that indicates the distance and direction of movement of the object. The computing system may be equipped with a graphical display that may, for example, provide a visual depiction of a graphical pointer that moves in accordance with the movement of the object. The graphical display may also provide a visual depiction of other objects that the user may manipulate, including, for example, a visual depiction of a graphical user-interface. The user may refer to such a graphical user-interface when inputting data.
Another type of pointing device may, generally, be based on a user touching a surface. Examples of common such pointing devices include a touchpad and a touch screen. Other examples of pointing devices based on a user touching a surface may exist as well. In typical arrangements, the surface is a flat surface that can detect contact with the user's finger (and/or another pointing tool such as a stylus). For example, the surface may include electrode sensors that are arranged to transmit, to the computing system, data that indicates the distance and direction of movement of the finger on the surface. The computing system may be equipped with a graphical display similar to the graphical display described above. Implementations of a touchpad typically involve a graphical display that is physically remote from the touchpad. However, a touchscreen is typically characterized by a touchpad embedded into a graphical display such that users may interact directly with a visual depiction of the graphical user-interface, and/or other elements displayed on the graphical display, by touching the graphical display itself.
User-interfaces may be arranged to provide various combinations of keys, buttons, and/or, more generally, input regions. Often, user-interfaces will include input regions that are associated with multiple characters and/or computing commands. Typically, users may select various characters and/or various computing commands, by performing various input actions on the user-interface.
As computing devices continue to become smaller and more portable, however, input systems must likewise become smaller. Such smaller input systems can impair the accuracy of user-input. For example, if an input system that is controlled by a user's finger includes input buttons that are around the size of, or even smaller than, the user's fingertip, it may become difficult for the user to interact with the input system and therefore the overall accuracy and/or efficiency of the system may suffer. Further, as input systems become smaller, the speed with which a user may use the system may suffer. An improvement is therefore desired.